RV’ing Up With New Technology
A month ago, Purpura, Pontoniere and their six children took to the road to report on the impact of technology in rural areas and explore the potential of computer and telecommunications technologies in creating a mobile work and education environment. This is their fourth report. Follow them on the Web at https://www.latimes.com/technotravels
One of our goals in taking our work and family on the road was to examine the practical issues involved in using mobile technologies.
We began by identifying tasks that we perform all the time and looked for portable versions of the hardware we depend on at home: desktop and laptop computers, printer, fax, digital camera and telephones. And, of course, we needed a motor home. We arranged with the manufacturers to review the products we had chosen.
For the most part, the technology lived up to its promise, with two big caveats. First, it turned out to be very difficult to hit the ground running, technologically speaking.
In our first week of travel, we had a bunch of hardware that was only minimally familiar, and we took a crash course in the inconsistencies of cellular phone coverage--all while attempting to meet a story deadline on day five. This is a scenario we don’t recommend.
A mobile home office requires some settling in and getting used to and ample opportunity to work out the bugs that inevitably develop.
Second, using cellular service in rural areas turned out to be a real adventure, even though we had phones from AirTouch, AT&T; and Nextel.
We encountered some really wacky stuff: At one campground, we had no coverage in the campsite where we were parked but could access service by walking about 100 feet to the west. But this strategy did not work every day. If this was due to the weather or what color pants we were wearing at the time, we’ll never know; but one does get superstitious about cellular phones.
Of the three service providers, only Nextel offered a detailed map of its coverage areas. We tried to avoid roaming charges where possible, but there were times when we couldn’t because we had deadlines to meet.
We found that we made a big mistake in not bringing along an acoustic coupler, which would have enabled us to transmit our stories or access the Internet from a pay phone when we couldn’t get cellular service. If you need to have a phone line for work, a backup to the cell phone system is a necessity.
Here are our assessments of the products we brought with us, which were provided by the manufacturers for review purposes:
The Motor Home
1998 Fleetwood Southwind 35S Motor Home ($94,654, base price: $91,007). Features: Coleman SolarPal RV battery solar charger; Intellitec electronic climate control system; Hydro Life HL 170 water filter; Kwikee electric power entry steps; Ford 7.5L V-8 engine.
For four weeks, the Fleetwood Southwind has served as our family’s home, workplace and transportation, carrying us through strong winds, rainstorms and twisting, rugged stretches of highway. We all feel attached to it, but the kids have a particular affinity for it.
“Everything is special in it; the toilet even has a special way to flush,” said our 4-year-old daughter, Lucia. “I like that it’s like a magical car,” added her 6-year-old brother, Silvano. “It’s like you’ve got tables, sinks and TVs in your car. And you also have a pop-out room; now that’s really like magic.”
The pop-out room does seem like a brilliant kind of sorcery: Fleetwood’s expandable room system allows us to add space via a hydraulic cylinder that forces out or retracts a “room.” The feature went a long way toward keeping everyone in our family from developing cabin fever on rainy days.
The motor home also has a hydraulic leveling system, which makes precise leveling possible without grunt work. The interior, with its oak cabinetry and hardwood floor in the kitchen, is classy and well-designed--and there was so much storage that we left behind nothing for want of space.
We made a mistake in not towing our family minivan behind us. A 35-foot motor home simply can’t navigate many country roads. And once you’re plugged in, hooked up and popped out for the night, the last thing you want to do is re-stow everything so you can run and get some groceries.
Hardware/software
Compaq Armada 4160T laptop computer ($3,999). 166-MHz Intel Pentium with MMX Technology, 16MB RAM, 2 GB hard drive. Multimedia configuration: 16-bit stereo sound card, integrated speakers and microphone, full-motion video and software MPEG support. Software: Windows 95, Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, ESS Audio Rack, Lode runner, Laplink, JustConnect, Compaq Insight Manager.
Mary, a Mac user, was a little nervous about working mouse-free, but the Compaq’s user-friendly Touchpad and excellent display quickly dispelled her fears.
Younger members of the family didn’t miss a beat when it came to making the transition from Mac to PC either. “It’s practically the same as our [Mac] computer at home,” said Aliseo, 9, who used the unit to e-mail friends in San Francisco. “The Touchpad is big on the Compaq; I like that,” he said.
We also had an HP OmniBook 2000/5700 laptop ($2,340) as a backup machine.
HP LaserJet 6Lse ($399). 600 x 600 dpi resolution, prints six pages per minute. Includes “Internet Publishing Kit” CD-ROM and an HP LaserJet companion printer (scanner-fax) accessory ($199).
There are smaller, higher-priced laser jet printers than the HP LaserJet 6Lse, but the 6Lse’s combination of reasonable price, high-quality printing and high-volume capacity fit our needs. As it turned out, we didn’t need a smaller version: We could easily store the 6Lse when traveling, and a small table in the RV accommodated it nicely when we were parked.
We also felt it was important to have the capability of faxing, so we brought along the companion printer. We very rarely scanned anything, although we could see the appeal of using it to scan the children’s drawings, and we avoided faxing from the road because of the problems maintaining good phone coverage.
HP PhotoSmart Digital Camera ($299). 640 x 480 dpi resolution, 2MB and 4MB memory cards that store up to 62 pictures in normal mode.
This was hands-down everyone’s favorite piece of technology on the trip. The pictures taken with the HP PhotoSmart really looked good, and because it adjusts shutter speed and focuses automatically, even our children could take shots that were quite satisfying.
With PhotoSmart, there’s no lag time for developing: You just download the pictures you’ve taken into the laptop, and they’re immediately available for viewing. Aliseo became our official Picture Downloader. “It was easy and fun,” he reported.
One caveat: It would probably be nice to have the 4MB card. We used the 2MB card, with the camera set on either fine or superfine, and we could take only 16 pictures before we had to download. That often meant carrying the laptop in a backpack in order to take more than 16 photos on a given outing.
If you want to print out your digital photos, HP sells the PhotoSmart printer for that purpose. We didn’t test it, but next time we take our home office on the road, we’d like to have one along.
Canon Optura Digital Video Camera ($2,699). Three operation modes: regular video, still photo or progressive-scan movie. Weight: about 2 pounds.
Our oldest sons took and edited movies with this easy-to-use unit and the results were impressive: well-defined images with rich, true-to-life colors. The video is particularly stable, thanks to the Optical Image Stabilization system.
Cameraman Aliseo appreciated the LCD screen: “When you’re shooting, you have a choice to look through the lens or look at the screen. It’s nice to look at the screen because then you can keep both eyes open.”
Unfortunately, we had great difficulty finding additional digital video cassettes to buy on the road. Another drawback was the short-lived lithium ion batteries: They lasted about 30 minutes before needing recharging.
Communications
3Com-US Robotics XJ5560 PC card modem. 56 Kbps, data/14.4 Bps fax.
This was the smallest piece of technology we brought on the trip, and it saved the day. We tested three PC card modems, and this was the only one that worked for us, thanks to the availability of cables and its compatibility with any modem setting.
AT&T; Digital Personal Communications Service. Nokia 2160 Digital Plus phone operating on TDMA dual-mode standard.
In our limited experience, AT&T; covered the widest area, including both urban and rural regions. Although the signal wasn’t always as clear as we might have wished, we were still able to place calls from places as unlikely as Umpqua Dunes in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation area.
In addition, AT&T;’s voicemail feature ensures that, even if you’re on the phone or unreachable because of lack of service coverage, you won’t miss calls. Most of our modem communication was made possible by AT&T; service, although the speed, at 4800 baud, was less than ideal.
AirTouch Communications. Motorola EE3 analog phone.
We didn’t use AirTouch in cities, but in rural areas, it offered the clearest signal and covered places that none of the other services did. Friendly, accessible customer service was another big AirTouch plus.
Nextel Personal Communications Service. Motorola iDEN i370 digital portable phone.
Nextel’s service gave the most consistent and clearest sound in urban corridors, although coverage in remote areas was basically nil. It had the most comprehensive set of services, including voice and alphanumeric paging, voicemail, and--especially convenient if you’ve got young children who want to explore on their own--two-way paging.
“I liked Nextel because we had two of them and you could use them to communicate like walkie-talkies,” said Aliseo.
